Thursday, November 05, 2009

I love zucchini. I eat it year round. It's my absolutely favorite weeknight vegetable since it's so easy to prepare. Just slice them up and put them in some boiling water with a pinch of salt. I could eat it every night. And I actually make zucchini bread because I really like it not just because someone had a bumper crop of zucchini.

Zucchini bread was one of the first things I ever baked on my own. When I was 15 my best friend Nora gave me a recipe for zucchini bread and she said it was easy and delicious. I thought it was strange to have zucchini in a dessert, but I tried it and she was right about it being delicious. All through my high school years I made zucchini bread over and over again. I remember sitting at the dining room table grating the zucchini by hand with my mom's old box grater. Even to this day I grate zucchini by hand. I know it's faster to use a food processor, but I like doing this particular task by hand.

But whether you love zucchini like me or just tolerate it, when zucchini is combined with chocolate it can't be bad. When I saw this chocolate zucchini cake recipe on the King Arthur Flour website I just had to make it. It definitely uses more chocolate than zucchini. I think the zucchini is more for moisture and texture than flavor. But every once in a while you'll encounter a green fleck which I find rather pretty. Regardless of the reason, it's a good way to add more vegetables to your diet.

GIVEAWAY

I am giving away the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Bakingcookbook. (The cookbook has a whole wheat flour version of this chocolate zucchini cake too.) Please leave a comment on this post before 11:59pm PST on November 12, 2009 and be sure to mention your favorite vegetable. I will select one comment at random. I plan to contact the winner by email so please make sure you have a valid email address associated with your user ID. Unfortunately I can only ship to U.S. addresses. My sincerest apologizes to my international readers.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the eggs.

Stir in the sour cream or yogurt alternately with the flour. Then add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing until smooth. Finally, fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake cake at 325F for 35-40 minutes, or until the top springs back lightly when touched, and it seems set. Take the cake out of the oven, sprinkle it evenly with the 1 cup chocolate chips, and return it to the oven for 5 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, and use an icing spatula or rubber spatula to spread the chocolate chips into a smooth glaze. Sprinkle with coarse sugar (if using). Cool on a rack.

* The recipe on the King Arthur Flour website uses 3/4 cup cocoa, but I like using only 1/2 cup cocoa.

52 comments:

Oh oh oh! Zucchini! It is so perfectly delicious - I used to loathe the stuff, and then I moved close to a lovely Japanese hibachi restaurant where they have the most incredible grilled zucchini. Oh, my mouth waters just thinking about it.

But this is a different class unto itself - I can't wait to try this recipe! Thanks for posting.

I have made chocolate chocolate chip zucchini muffins and they are soooo good! This cake looks like its along the same lines.

When I was a kid and my mom made zucchini for dinner, my brother and I would hold our noses so we couldn't taste it as we were eating it. Pretty slick move! But now I gladly cook zucchini for myself whenever I have the chance.

Oh gosh, I can't just choose one! Top three: broccoli, brussels sprouts, and butternut squash (I swear I like more than just those that start with "b"--just a weird coincidence! Thank for the contest. Every KA recipe I've made off the site has been fabulous (english muffins esp) so I'm sure the book is equally wonderful.

I had a bumper crop of zucchini, and I think I made every creation of zucchini possible. I have lots of it in the freezer to keep me in zucchini dishes all winter. I think my most favorite vegetable is corn. Corn on the cob!!

Right now, I really like carrots because I can disguise it in drinks and food for my 2-year picky non-vegetable-eating son. I look forward to trying this recipe for him (and well, myself, too). I must say - your meyer lemon bar recipe is to die for - I look forward to testing out this recipe.

I am late on the feeback but am a friendly norther neighbour so would not qualify for the cookbook. My favorite vegetable would have to be butternut squash. I would say tomato as I eat one or two a day but most people consider it a fruit. Thank you for being such a baking inspiration. I've made many a recipe from your blog and been all the more popular for it. Great photos as well!

The alpine strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is a cousin of the wild strawberry. It's sometimes simply referred to as alpineberry. I love to bake, cook and garden. My blog is a place to share my recipes and other tiny tidbits of my life.